LineNow vs Stocky: Honest Comparison for Shopify Operators
Stocky is the inventory app Shopify ships with POS Pro. LineNow is a procurement and inventory platform for SMBs. Where each fits, where each stops working, and how to choose. Honest comparison.Stocky is the inventory app Shopify ships as part of the Shopify POS Pro plan. LineNow is a procurement and inventory platform for SMBs across retail, restaurant, dropshipping, and manufacturing. They sound similar; they aren't. This is an honest comparison.
TL;DR
| Stocky | LineNow | |
|---|---|---|
| Sends purchase orders to suppliers | Yes (PDF email) | Yes (email, WhatsApp, EDI, portals) |
| Tracks order status from supplier replies | No (manual) | Yes (AI parses replies, auto-updates) |
| Statistical demand forecasting | No (basic suggestions) | Yes (SBA, demand-pattern detection, decay) |
| Recipe / BOM costing | No | Yes |
| Multi-POS (not just Shopify) | No (Shopify only) | Yes (Shopify, Square, Toast, Faire, Clover) |
| Bills push to QuickBooks/Xero | Limited | Yes, classified |
| Dropship automation | No | Yes |
| Pricing | Bundled with Shopify POS Pro ($89/mo per location) | $50/mo, all locations included, 90-day free trial |
Where Stocky fits
Stocky is a competent inventory database for Shopify retailers who need to track on-hand counts, generate purchase orders, and run basic ABC analysis. If you have one Shopify store, one warehouse, and a small set of suppliers who all accept email POs, Stocky covers the basics. It is included with Shopify POS Pro, which removes the cancel-this-tool decision.
The strengths:
- Tight Shopify integration — products and inventory sync without setup
- Fast PO generation as a PDF
- Basic demand suggestions based on sell-through rate
- Stock-transfer workflow between locations
- Stocktake (physical count) workflow
Where Stocky stops working
The ceiling on Stocky is hit by any operator who:
- Uses a POS other than Shopify (Stocky is Shopify-only)
- Runs a restaurant, manufacturer, or dropshipper (no recipes, no BOMs, no automatic dropship PO)
- Wants the supplier's reply to update the order without manual data entry
- Wants statistical safety stock (z-score, σ, demand-pattern aware) instead of a sell-through suggestion
- Has more than ~10 suppliers and wants per-supplier price history surfaced
- Needs MOQ-bound flagging or pack-size rounding integrated into recommendations
- Wants bills pushed to QuickBooks with COGS classification
Stocky's PO is a one-way PDF. After it leaves, the supplier replies in your inbox; you read it, you update Stocky by hand. For 5 POs/week that's tolerable. For 50 POs/week across 8 suppliers, it's the whole problem.
Where LineNow fits
LineNow is built for the operator whose procurement workflow is too complex for a Shopify add-on but who can't afford a six-month NetSuite implementation. The product surface is broader than Stocky's:
- POs generated from real consumption math (PAR with decay, statistical safety stock per item)
- AI parses supplier replies (Gmail / Microsoft 365 / forwarded mailboxes / WhatsApp) and updates orders automatically
- Recipe and BOM costing for restaurants and manufacturers
- Dropship sales orders auto-create matching POs to the right supplier
- Multi-POS support (Shopify, Square, Toast, Faire, Clover)
- Bills push to QuickBooks / Xero, classified COGS vs expense
- EDI (X12 4010/5010 and EDIFACT D24A) for high-volume B2B
When to choose Stocky
You're a single-store Shopify retailer, you already pay for Shopify POS Pro, you have a small supplier list, and your POs are simple. Stocky is included; the marginal cost is zero. Use it.
When to choose LineNow
Anything else. If you have a Square or Toast POS, run a restaurant with recipes, dropship via Shopify with custom routing, manage more than ~10 suppliers, want supplier replies parsed automatically, or care about statistical replenishment math, LineNow is the right tool. The 90-day free trial removes the migration risk; cancel anytime.
The honest gotcha
Stocky's per-location pricing inside Shopify POS Pro means a 4-location operator pays $356/month for Shopify POS plus Stocky. LineNow is $50/month total, all locations, all features. This isn't the primary reason to switch — the feature delta is — but it does add up.